“The responsibility assigned is pastoring the flock which is ‘among you.’ The responsibility to shepherd is limited to an identifiable flock. In Scripture, God never gives anyone undefined responsibilities. This is especially true of elders who are held strictly accountable for the work they do. Try to imagine a bookkeeper who had to give a …
The Draw of True Preaching
“My contention is that it is the pulpit itself that is ultimately responsible, and that when the pulpit is right, and the preaching is true, that it will attract and draw the people to listen to its message” (Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers, p. 52).
Rap as Ultimate European Whiteness
“As we’ve seen, obscenity is the preferred weapon of those willing to do anything to get a rise out of the public. The faces are black, but the strategy is European: Seek out a submerged, antisocial custom that is considered marginal even by its participants, drag it kicking and screaming to the surface, and celebrate …
A High Calling
“The work of preaching is the highest and the greatest and the most glorious calling to which anyone can ever be called. If you want something in addition to that I would say without any hesitation that the most urgent need in the Christian Church today is true preaching” (Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers, p. …
Time Will Win
“But lately there is something desperate about Madonna’s whip cracking, something reminiscent of the fading hooker fighting to keep her street corner. But don’t misread the metaphor—this working girl does not have a heart of gold” (Martha Bayles, Hole in our Soul, pp. 334-335).
Not the Other Way Around, As Some Think
“Doctrinal work involves a positive proclamation of the truth, and a guarding against falsehood. The task of a shepherd is to gather sheep and scatter wolves” (Mother Kirk, p. 179).
Different Costumes, Same Trick
“In [Sinead] O’Connor, this shtick is touted as a pure product of her brooding Irish soul. In Nirvana, it is praised as a distillation of Seattle despair. In fact, it is a cliché of expressionist theater, passed down through performance art (via Yoko Ono) to punk” (Martha Bayles, Hole in our Soul, p. 318).
Where Is This Going to Land Us?
“It is interesting that our Lord compared the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees to leaven. Leaven, or yeast, is not dormant. Leaven in a loaf of bread grows and works through the loaf until it pervades the whole. False teaching works in the same way. This means that an elder must be able to …
Just Plain Screaming
“It’s ironic how some of those [lefty] elders, after years of hating heavy metal, learn to love it the moment a metal group becomes ‘intelligent,’ meaning politically correct. Among hardcore bands, the same advance in ‘intelligence’ is achieved whenever a group switches from just plain screaming to screaming about current events” (Martha Bayles, Hole in …
Street Crud is not the Same as Street Cred
“It’s worth noting that, for all their reputation as street rebels, the Sex Pistols rarely ventured beyond the ‘playpens’ of the art colleges” (Martha Bayles, Hole in our Soul, p. 309).